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A bi phase
Jan. 23rd, 2024 06:57 amNo, not bisexual. Not even bicoastal. I've had several nights in a row of biphasic sleep. If you're not familiar with that or haven't clicked the link or even googled, that's when your sleep is broken up into two segments. Thanks to modern things like clocks, electric lights, and jobs, we've mostly abandoned the practice.
Or tried to. How many people suffer from what they think is insomnia because they go to bed and sleep for a while before waking up again and struggling for hours to fall back asleep? Thanks to social media, we know that it's a lot of people. What's really happening is that their body and brain are trying to assert their own natural sleep schedule, which has a gap in the middle.
Articles about biphasic sleep make the rounds every few years and you always see the same response from people. They wish they could do it, but thanks to capitalism, they have to be up at a certain time to go to work. But, much like with exercise, the truth is that if you go to bed earlier you can do what you want. People are obsessed with trying to enjoy free time in the evenings after work, but they're actually too exhausted to make the most of that time. And yet somehow not exhausted enough that they can't stay up late on their phones or binge watching shows or playing video games.
Rearranging your day so you do want you want before it's even time to work is the ultimate life hack. People who work out in the morning have a much easier time sticking to it because the interruptions of the evening don't factor in. Gyms, parks, sidewalks, and trails aren't mobbed like they are the rest of the day, too. Early mornings are even a great time to hit the grocery store and get all kinds of other stuff done.
I digress. It's easy for me to end up having biphasic nights because I'm ready for bed by 6:30pm and am generally done watching an episode of my current bedtime show by 7:30. I now know that if I wake up at 11:00 or so, I can attempt to fall back asleep, but there's no point in trying very long; if it doesn't happen right away, I'll be up for a while.
Modern life doesn't lend itself to a lot of the traditional activities associated with the waking period of biphasic sleep. And neither does the practice of sharing a bedroom. I have my own room, so when I wake up, I can just play another episode or two of what I'm watching. Depending on their living situation and interests, some people might choose to read, cook, or even get some exercise or meditation in. It's most important to figure out what they like to do and give themselves permission to do it.
What's most important to know about biphasic sleep isn't the stuff you do while you're awake. It's the quality of sleep. A good biphasic night is full of extremely vivid dreams and waking up feeling absolutely incredible. Not just refreshed, but euphoric. If you could bottle that feeling, you'd make billions.
And good sleep makes your body feel better, too. You'd think I'd wake up even more sore after being in bed from 6:30-4:30 some nights, but I actually feel much better. Quality of sleep is very regenerative.
You'll never convince most people that they'll like their life better if they go to bed earlier and maybe don't sleep all the way through the night in one continous chunk. But people like me who ended up doing it through circumstance can end up extremely happy they did. It definitely sucks when there's a concert or something, but that's pretty rare for me. I'd rather have a harder time on special occasions than give up a regular schedule that works very well for me.
I don't know if I could be a night owl even if I tried at this point.
Or tried to. How many people suffer from what they think is insomnia because they go to bed and sleep for a while before waking up again and struggling for hours to fall back asleep? Thanks to social media, we know that it's a lot of people. What's really happening is that their body and brain are trying to assert their own natural sleep schedule, which has a gap in the middle.
Articles about biphasic sleep make the rounds every few years and you always see the same response from people. They wish they could do it, but thanks to capitalism, they have to be up at a certain time to go to work. But, much like with exercise, the truth is that if you go to bed earlier you can do what you want. People are obsessed with trying to enjoy free time in the evenings after work, but they're actually too exhausted to make the most of that time. And yet somehow not exhausted enough that they can't stay up late on their phones or binge watching shows or playing video games.
Rearranging your day so you do want you want before it's even time to work is the ultimate life hack. People who work out in the morning have a much easier time sticking to it because the interruptions of the evening don't factor in. Gyms, parks, sidewalks, and trails aren't mobbed like they are the rest of the day, too. Early mornings are even a great time to hit the grocery store and get all kinds of other stuff done.
I digress. It's easy for me to end up having biphasic nights because I'm ready for bed by 6:30pm and am generally done watching an episode of my current bedtime show by 7:30. I now know that if I wake up at 11:00 or so, I can attempt to fall back asleep, but there's no point in trying very long; if it doesn't happen right away, I'll be up for a while.
Modern life doesn't lend itself to a lot of the traditional activities associated with the waking period of biphasic sleep. And neither does the practice of sharing a bedroom. I have my own room, so when I wake up, I can just play another episode or two of what I'm watching. Depending on their living situation and interests, some people might choose to read, cook, or even get some exercise or meditation in. It's most important to figure out what they like to do and give themselves permission to do it.
What's most important to know about biphasic sleep isn't the stuff you do while you're awake. It's the quality of sleep. A good biphasic night is full of extremely vivid dreams and waking up feeling absolutely incredible. Not just refreshed, but euphoric. If you could bottle that feeling, you'd make billions.
And good sleep makes your body feel better, too. You'd think I'd wake up even more sore after being in bed from 6:30-4:30 some nights, but I actually feel much better. Quality of sleep is very regenerative.
You'll never convince most people that they'll like their life better if they go to bed earlier and maybe don't sleep all the way through the night in one continous chunk. But people like me who ended up doing it through circumstance can end up extremely happy they did. It definitely sucks when there's a concert or something, but that's pretty rare for me. I'd rather have a harder time on special occasions than give up a regular schedule that works very well for me.
I don't know if I could be a night owl even if I tried at this point.
